


Five Times Ricky Didn’t Know What To Do About His Feelings

by yourekindof_weird



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: 5 Times, 5+1 Things, Bisexual Ricky Bowen (HSM: The Series), Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:14:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21725068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourekindof_weird/pseuds/yourekindof_weird
Summary: (and one time he finally figured them out)Gina stares at Ricky for a second. She shifts slightly on her feet, then rolls her eyes. “You finally figured out that you like Big Red, I’m assuming?”Ricky’s mouth drops open. “How does everybody know about that?”“EJ doesn’t, if that’s any consolation.”“It’s not.”
Relationships: Big Red/Ricky Bowen (HSM: The Series), Ricky Bowen & Carlos (HSM: The Series), Ricky Bowen & E.J. Caswell, Ricky Bowen & Gina Porter, Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 9
Kudos: 132





	Five Times Ricky Didn’t Know What To Do About His Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I've never done a 5+1 before (that I've actually liked enough to post) so I don't know how good this'll be. Anyway, I just love Ricky and I love the thought of bi Ricky and I also just want everyone to be friends so here you go.

**_One_ **

Gina kisses Ricky on the cheek and Ricky realizes three things. 

One, he doesn’t like Nini ‘that way’ anymore. He just wants his friend back.

Two, he doesn’t like Gina that way either.

Three, he thinks he might know exactly who he _does_ like that way.

He doesn’t sleep that night.

All he can think about is how much fun he had trying to teach Big Red how to dance for homecoming. Specifically, he can’t stop thinking about when he was teaching Red how to slow dance. He realizes, horrifyingly, that not only was it awkward because Red is shit at dancing, but also because Ricky thoroughly enjoyed being so close to his friend and had absolutely no idea how to handle that.

That Saturday, he goes to the first people that he knows will understand; Nini’s moms. Except neither of them answer the door when he rings the doorbell. Nini does.

“Ricky,” she says, stilted. Ricky did try to kiss her the other night, so he understands her weariness. 

“Are your moms home?”

“No? Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to come in?”

They find themselves in the living room where their almost kiss happened.

“Ricky, me breaking up with EJ doesn’t mean that you-”

“I think I’m bisexual.”

Nini falls silent and stares. “Oh. Big Red?”  
Ricky has no idea how she just knows, but he nods anyway. Nini leans forward, probably to give some meaningful advice, Ricky’s sure, but the doorbell rings.

Nini goes to answer it. Ricky cannot believe he really just blurted that out then admitted to liking his best friend. And he told his ex-girlfriend, no less. He’s an idiot.

“I want to apologize,” the person at the door says. The voice begins drawing closer. “Because I’m dumb and I fucked up and- Ricky?”

Oh god. It’s EJ. He’s come into the living room, Nini right behind him, and he’s staring at Ricky.

“I’ll leave,” Ricky says.

“No, don’t,” Nini pushes past EJ, standing between the two boys.

“No,” EJ says, “I think you should leave.”

Ricky starts to go. Nini puts her arm up to stop him, but Ricky pays her no mind.

On Monday, though Nini and EJ are not back together, they are tentative friends. And Ricky? He’s _still_ having a sexuality crisis. He took, like, eighteen ‘Am I Bisexual’ quizzes online and at least ten ‘Am I in Love With My Best Friend’ quizzes, too. 

At lunch, Nini approaches the table that Ricky is sitting at with Red. Oh god. She better not say anything! She doesn’t, not about what happened on the weekend. Instead, she just extends her hand to Ricky. “Friends?” She asks.

Ricky smiles and takes her hand. “Friends.”

EJ doesn’t even complain.

That night, Big Red invites Ricky over to play video games. They skateboard to Red’s house together, then settle into his room.

“So,” Red says, “You and Nini made up?”

“Yeah,” Ricky responds. “I’m done trying to get back together with her.”

“Oh,” Red doesn’t meet his eyes. Ricky knows that he imagines the excitement on his friend’s face. There’s no way that Red likes him back. “Good for you, man.”

**_Two_ **

At the end of rehearsal on Tuesday, Ricky goes up to Carlos. He waits until everyone else is gone, then speaks.

“I like a boy,” Ricky starts with, because he might as well get right down to it. Carlos’ jaw drops. Then, he jumps excitedly, clapping his hands together.

“Big Red, right?” Carlos asks. Honestly, is Ricky _that_ obvious? First Nini guessed, now Carlos?

“Yeah.”

“This is great!”

“What? No.”

“Why not?” Carlos expression grows concerned. “Is it your first time liking a boy?”

“Uh,” Ricky runs a hand through his hair. “Yes. I think I’m bisexual. That’s not the problem, though.”

“Then what is?”

“He doesn’t like me back! How do _you_ deal with that kind of thing?”

“Has he told you that he doesn’t like you back?”

“Well, no. But-”

“No. Nope. Shush,” Carlos holds up a finger in front of Ricky’s mouth. Ricky blinks at it, going slightly cross-eyed. “How do you know that he doesn’t like you if you haven’t even asked?”

“‘Cause he’s straight?”

“You thought _you_ were straight and you were wrong about that, Ricky,” Carlos sighs, exasperated. “What’s to say that you’re not wrong about this, too?”

“Oh.”

Carlos smiles warmly at Ricky. “Listen, don’t feel pressured to come out, but don’t jump to heternormative conclusions, either. Got it?”

“Got it. Thanks, Carlos.”

**_Three_ **

It isn’t until the next weekend that Ricky and Red are able to hang out just the two of them. They’re at Red’s house again, sitting on his bed and watching some random horror movie on Red’s laptop.

They both fall asleep halfway through.

Ricky wakes up first. It’s still dark out, and when Ricky looks at Red’s clock, he discovers that it’s only around 11:00pm. 

Red is snoring loudly, but he looks so utterly peaceful at the same time. His head has fallen slightly, so it’s resting on Ricky’s shoulder. Ricky takes the chance to admire Red while he knows Red won’t see him looking. 

The problem is, he gets distracted by, well, Red. All of him. He gets so caught up in looking that he doesn’t notice Red wake up.

“Ricky?” Suddenly, Big Red’s face is very close to Ricky’s. They stare into each others eyes, and the moment seems to last centuries. It probably only lasts a few seconds.

Ricky startles. He’s close enough to kiss Red and he thinks he might end up actually doing it if he doesn’t _move_. He moves backwards so quickly that he falls right off the bed.

“Ricky!” Red shouts, surprised. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah! I’m fine! Just-” Ricky feels his cheeks heat up, a deep flush blossoming across his face. He stands up as quickly as he fell. “I should probably go home.”

“I thought you were staying the night.”

“Yeah, but…” he can’t think of an excuse, but he starts grabbing his things anyway. “I should go.”

He doesn’t answer any of Red’s texts or calls. He doesn’t want to obliterate their friendship because of his stupid feelings, so he avoids them altogether.

If he could just fall out of love with Red, then maybe-

Wait. Love?

-Oh fuck.

**_Four_ **

Ricky attempts to avoid Red on Monday, and for the most part, he succeeds. Near the end of the day, however, he sees Red talking with Nini and Carlos. Ricky immediately turns to go the other way. When he looks over his shoulder- because he can’t help it. It’s _Red_ \- he wishes he hadn’t. Red has seen him. The distraught look that his friend gives him breaks Ricky’s heart.

Gina, of all people, stops to talk to Ricky after rehearsal. “What the hell did you do to Big Red?” she asks.

“Why do you care?” Ricky asks.

Gina sighs, putting a hand on her hip. She thinks for a second. “He’s messing up stage directions more than usual,” she finally says. “That’s not the point, though. What’s going on between you two?”

“Nothing!” Ricky exclaims far too quickly. “Nothing is going on between us!”

Gina stares at him for a second. She shifts slightly on her feet, then rolls her eyes. “You finally figured out that you like him, I’m assuming?”

Ricky’s mouth drops open. “How does everybody know about that?”

“EJ doesn’t, if that’s any consolation.”

“It’s not.”

“Talk to Red. You’re both off your game that’s not good with how close we are to the performance.” And with that, Gina nods once at Ricky and swoops out of the room.

**_Five_ **

The next day, Ricky decides that he’s gonna follow everyone’s advice. He’s done running away. If it fucks up their friendship, oh well.

Except, Red is nowhere to be found. 

By lunchtime, with still no sign of Red, Ricky’s confidence is dwindling. Until he spots Nini, that is. She’s smart. She’ll know what to do.

He plops himself down at the table, sitting directly across from Nini. EJ, Gina, and Ashlyn are there too. Carlos and Seb sit down just seconds after Ricky does. Kourtney is making her way over.

“Help,” Ricky says to Nini. The table goes silent.

“Uh,” Nini responds.

“Ricky,” Kourtney has arrived, “Leave Nini alone.”

“Wait, no,” Nini says. Kourtney looks absolutely done with her friend’s life choices. “We’re friends. What do you need?”

“How do you tell someone that you like them?”

Carlos _squees_ in delight. Gina rolls her eyes, but Ricky catches the smile on her face before it disappears. Nini smiles warmly at Ricky. Kourtney sighs, then shoves Ricky over so she can sit down beside Ashlyn. Everyone else just looks confused. Especially EJ. His eyebrows are scrunched together and he looks like he’s trying to figure something out. Sort of like that one meme with the woman looking at all of the calculations and equations or whatever.

“Just say it outright,” Nini says.

“No way,” Ricky shakes his head. That would be… terrifying.

“Ricky,” Nini leans forward, “You can’t be vague about this or the person you’re trying to tell isn’t going to understand.”

“Um,” EJ has finally stopped looking lost, “Who are you trying to tell you like them? That could also factor into how you tell her.”

Huh. Ricky hadn’t realized quite how desperate he was until he actually decided to take advice from _EJ._

Ricky takes a deep breath. This is a big moment. “Big Red.”

Seb smiles at Ricky, and Ashlyn looks like her theories have just been confirmed. 

“Seriously?” Asks Kourtney. “You went from _Nini_ to _Red_?” But she’s smiling encouragingly at him. 

A whole lot of emotions cross EJ’s face, and for a second, Ricky is worried. But then-

“Oh. That actually makes _a lot_ of sense,” EJ declares.

“Yeah,” Ricky says. “I’m bi, if you were wondering.”

“Right. Well,” EJ averts his eyes for a second, then brings them back to look at Ricky. “Actually talking to him would be a good place to start. You didn’t say a word to him yesterday.”

“Okay, that’s… I can do that.”

“Good,” EJ smiles. He _smiles_ at _Ricky._ “Then just do what Nini said to do.”

“Oh god. Are you serious?” EJ grins. Ricky’s head falls onto the table. “Okay.”

**_+One_ **

Big Red is back at school the next day, but this time _he’s_ avoiding _Ricky_. He won’t even look at him. Ricky feels like shit. He feels even worse when he realizes that this must be what Red was feeling on Monday. 

After rehearsal, Ricky plans to catch Red before he leaves. Unfortunately, Miss Jenn needs to talk to Ricky and by the time they’re done, Red is gone. Dejected, Ricky makes his way home, skating in zig zags as he goes. 

Red is sitting on his doorstep. 

Ricky almost falls off of his skateboard when he sees him.

Ricky sits down on the doorstep beside Red.

“Hi,” Red says. “I just- I wanted to apologize.”

“What? Why?”

“When you were over at my place the other day. I didn’t mean to, um,” Red looks down at his hands, “I didn’t mean to scare you away, that’s all.”

“What do you mean?”

“I almost kissed you?”

A whole lot of things go through Ricky’s mind so quickly that he can’t even process them properly. 

“I came to say sorry,” Red continues. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. I know you don’t like me like that and I’m okay with that, but I still want to be friends.”

“You-” Ricky’s rasps, “You like me?”

“Yes. But I know you don’t feel the same way and that’s perfectly fine. The feelings will go away eventually. I think. We can still be friends is all I’m trying to say.”

“No!”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll- go,” Red starts to stand up.

“Hold on, wait, that’s not what I-” Ricky’s in full panic mode now, so he stands up too, grabbing Red’s wrist. Without even thinking, he pulls Red in close, until their heads are almost touching. Neither of them do anything, both staring into each other’s eyes. 

Ricky’s hand, the one not grabbing Red’s wrist, goes up to cup Red’s cheek. Red sucks in a breath. His free hand ends up on Ricky’s waist.

“Can I- can I kiss you?” Ricky whispers, barely audible. 

Red blinks. “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
